Abstract [en]

Tartu linguists in exile

The exodus of some 70,000 people from estonia to Finland, Sweden, and Germany at the end of the Second World War included a number of scientists and scholars. The biobibliography of Estonian scholars and scientists abroad 1944–1983, compiled by Teodor Künnapas and published in 1984, lists 28 linguists who have been active in linguistics or philology outside Estonia. This number includes scholars schooled and even born abroad. If we turn to Estonian and Uralic linguistics, 6 out of 8 linguists of pre-war Tartu university joined the stream of refugees and managed to continue their scholarly activities after they left Estonia. Their work and devotion resulted in several outstanding achievements, now recognised as most valuable contributions to Estonian linguistics, e.g. “Estnisches etymoligisches Wörterbuch” by Julius Mägiste (published posthumously in Helsinki, 1982–83, 12 volumes), “Eesti keele mõisteline sõnaraamat/Dictionnaire analogique de la lange estonienne” by Andrus Saareste (Stockholm 1958–64, 4 volumes; index Uppsala, 1979), “Standard Estonian Grammar” by Valter Tauli (Uppsala, 1973, 1983, 2 volumes; also published in Estonian 1972 and 1980), and “Lõuna-Eesti murded” (South Estonian dialects) by Mihkel Toomse, a 30-volume manuscript now held by the University of Turku, Finland.